Residents of Iya Gbayi community in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger state do not have access to healthcare delivery as a Primary Healthcare Centre in their area has since become deplorable.
The hospital that is popularly known as MDG Nyaguru Clinic, has become deplorable to the extent that patients on admission are receiving treatment using the window as a drip stand.
The community hospital that serves an estimated 2,000 population has no medical equipment, electricity, and drugs to function.
This is the deplorable nature of Iya Gbayi community hospital even as the Niger state government in 2022 approved N5.454 billion for community healthcare delivery.
The money that was approved using the state Primary Health Care Development Agency is meant to improve healthcare delivery in communities in the state.
Out of N5.454 billion approved for the Primary Health Care Development Agency, N4.923 billion was set aside to be expended on capital projects. While the state Ministry of health got N21.828 billion approved for it in the 2021 budget.
It is not, however, clear how the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency, got such a huge allocation, and the Iya Gbayi community hospital is this deplorable.
A senior official from the Niger State Primary Health Care Development Agency who spoke to MAWA-Foundation but prefers his identity concealed because he is not the right person to speak on the issue said he is aware not all approved budgets are released, but pointed out that even the released ones are often not properly utilized.
One of the locals, Mr. Ismail, described the deplorable condition of the community hospital as most unfortunate.
He, however, claimed to have worked with other community members in drawing the attention of the government to the terrible nature of the hospital. An effort he said did not yield the desired result.
Iya Gbayi community is a common example in Nigeria where hospitals are allowed to rot, and the citizens who have the means, resort to private healthcare providers while the poor are allowed to die in a deplorable healthcare system.
Tracka, a public accountability organization that exposed the hospital, has since appealed to the Niger state government and National Primary Health Care Development Agency to help fix it.
MAWA-Foundation could not immediately reach out to the Niger State government for an official response.